


Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

by Reknownst



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Dance, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Music, B-Boy Eren Yaeger, B-Girl Mina Carolina, Club AU, DJ Annie Leonhardt, DJ Bertolt Hoover, DJ Mike Zacharias, F/F, F/M, Gen, House Music, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24767710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reknownst/pseuds/Reknownst
Summary: It was a place to escape to, and place built especially for them, and the connections they were all bound to make...
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Mina Carolina, Eventual Levi/Eren Yaeger, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Mina Carolina/Mylius Zeramuski, Mylius Zeramuski/Mina Carolina/Armin Arlert, Past Reiner Braun/Bertolt Hoover - Relationship
Comments: 7
Kudos: 4





	1. XL-TT

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Black Swan](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22297765) by [Flamoria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flamoria/pseuds/Flamoria). 



> An idea that popped in my head right after I finished Playboy, and I wanted to make a sad attempt at a dance/House Music AU so here we go

Trost was an interesting place, Erwin decided. It was a growing city, matched by its twin Karanese to the east, and nestled between the rural farm districts in southern city of Maria, and the Metropolitan city of Sheena to the north. Placed between two wildly different cultures, Trost had become a strange epicenter of emerging culture. It was, in truth, what had brought him there to the district in the first place.

Erwin was a man of commanding stature, usually dressed with in an immaculate and crisp combination of dark slacks and long-sleeved dress shirts. He often tall over most people and held a gaze of conviction to match. It all seemed to swirl together to give Erwin the appearance of being almost inapproachable, but he was, without a doubt, _extraordinarily_ desirable.

It was probably that allure, and his own mastered way of speaking that had drawn everyone before him, a small but honest band of people in the city that had more than followed him since he had began to make a name for himself in the capital through his uncanny ability for perception and sharp intellect. Erwin closed his eyes, taking a solemn, deep breath, slowly re-opening them to allow himself to take in this very moment, this reality.

Erwin Smith was truly there, a newly refurbished building behind him, his building that he had come to purchase, and cultivate alongside Mike, a close associate from his days in white collar work in Sina. Mike stood next to him, dressed just as sharply, and only slightly less commanding. Erwin turned his attention forward, noting that there were slightly more people gathering before him, all intrigued by the steadily growing group of people gravitating at his feet; some of them had already taken to recording him, earning a very slight tinge of distaste from Erwin. He had heard Mike make a remark, quiet and amused.

“Well, are you going to say anything?”

“Of course, but I’m curious to see how many will truly show up. This isn’t exactly something people have much faith in these days.”

Mike chuckled under his breath, as Erwin figured he would. “Of course not, but ‘the great Erwin' certainly has better plans than to give up on what’s truly important to him. This is your conviction.”

“And your idea. But, I definitely have faith in your abilities. You may also want to keep your business attire separate from your actual function. No one would expect Zacharias to be like his vinyls and be so clean-cut.”

Erwin hadn’t even turned to look at Mike, but could feel him staring at him in full directness now, and Erwin also felt his silent grin, his approval as well. More people had gathered, and Erwin figured that he had waited long enough, and whoever was here, would suffice. Erwin spoke, his words thundering through to the crowd.

“I'll keep my introduction short, and for those of you who do not know me, I…am Erwin Smith.” Everyone was silent, without a single shuffle of noise; Erwin nodded subtly, curtly; they hung on his every word. “And this behind me, beyond this ribbon seal, lies something that many of you will see as something less than what it truly is.”

“It's a nightclub, right!?” Erwin bit his tongue, almost laughing outright at a random's boldness. Instead, Erwin turned toward the voice in the crowd, staring generally, but not exactly toward them; Erwin chuckled. “That is exactly it. You see a nightclub, because you don’t understand in the slightest.” Erwin hardened his voice and cast his eyes back out into the main body of the crowd and he could see the reverence in their stares. “What you see behind Mike and myself, is not a nightclub, but a space for creativity and expression in itself.”

Silence.

“This is a space for those who seek release from pressures of the relentlessness of Sina, or from the mundane plains in Maria.”

More silence.

“What is behind me is more than just a club. It is more than just a building. It is a space and a pure space at that. This is where you come to be you, and only you.” He held scissors in his hands now, shears spread wide over the ribbon. Erwin turned to Mike, who nodded only once, his expression hadn’t changed from earlier. The shears clipped and Erwin gave the crowd a lipped smile. “This is where you come for a connection. Welcome to your space. Welcome to XL-TT.”


	2. Eren Pt. I: The Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren Yaeger, the "Yaeger Bomb" garnered fame at the Omni Dancefest two years ago.
> 
> So...why does he feel so empty?

Rogue Crew knew how to “[rock](https://youtu.be/-usRL8EFPR8) steady”, and Eren felt as though he should be proud. He was, in fact, but even though he felt soulful vocals and drum breaks deeply, he couldn’t help but squint in acute observation at the dance stage before him.

He was loosely aware of Mina and Nack next to him, but he was honed in, watching a hazel-eyed Luke Siss wave through the beats. He wasn’t bad, Eren decided, especially when on a certain beat, 1:44 (It was iconic, really) Siss reacted skillfully, switching from smooth waves to a sharp, artful and controlled twitch, once, twice, three times.

The guy had musicality, that was for sure.

Eren whistled to himself as Luke fell back, a small, knowing grin on his face, still on rhythm even then. Eren's eyes shifted coolly over from Luke, and was a little surprised when he saw _Mylius_ take to the dancefloor next, working with what he had. They were about two and a half minutes into the track now, and Eren figured that even with all the ear for music in the world, Luke had never seen any kind of footwork like Mylius's. By the time, Mylius had made his way toward the floor, Luke's expression was an understandable mix between surrender and appreciation.

The track ended, and the crowd erupted in a combination of applause and noisy approval, quieting down only as someone else, who Eren remembered as the host, Dita Ness, stepped forward. Eren had only heard the first few sentences before his mind wandered. Luke Siss was actually pretty good, and it couldn’t hurt to have another member, could it? Eren, curious, turned to Mina, who was absolutely beaming over Mylius's performance.

“Do you always get this flustered when your guy performs?”Mina stuck her tongue out at him in response, and Eren bit back a laugh.

“We’re a crew! I can't be proud of him?”

“I didn’t say that. What I was saying was-“

“Judges!” Eren's ears twitched at the sound of Ness's voice, and he turned back to the battle, not even surprised in the slightest to see a unanimous decision in favor of Mylius, and the small, reserved smile on his face.

* * *

Eren slid into the booth next to Nack, who was already nose first into his menu. Eren turned his attention smoothly to Mylius and Mina across from him, who also were scanning over their menus, touching shoulder to shoulder. It was strange, having two members of a dance crew also be in a relationship. Most dancer pairs he had seen never really lasted all that long; he caught Mina watching him from the corner of his eye.

“Eren, are you even hungry?” He shrugged.

“I’m not entirely used to being in a place this large, if I'm honest.”

“You’re a farm boy, is what you’re saying.”

“Small town kid. Get it right, Nack.” Eren hoped he hadn’t sounded too indignant. If he recalled correctly, he was one of the few breakers from Shinganshina, and the only one to really catch any eyes when he came to Trost’s “Omni-Dance” competition two years ago, and even managed to place top 8.

“Easy, easy. You are our _glorious_ leader after all.” Nack laughed, Eren frowned, tight-mouthed. So much for hoping, he thought. “I'm kidding, I'm kidding! But seriously, are you going to eat something? I think I'm settling in for a burger!”

“Honestly, you seem a little nervous,” Mylius remarked , and Mina added on that even still.

“More like distraught. I thought Mylius was fine at the battle today, and so did the judges. You’re looking way too hard into things.” Eren's frown didn’t change, and instead opted to bury his nose into the menu.

“…To be honest, I think I'm a little short on cash at the moment…”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Mina chided. “You always do this after an event in Rose. Come on, Eren. Trost knows us, and they even said it would be on the house!”

“That’s because your sister works here…”

“And…? We might as well use it, right?” Still, Eren's frown didn’t change, but he put on his best smile when he realize the waitress had stopped at their table; he didn’t want to seem off-putting.

“I'm Celia Carolina, and I'll be taking care of you tonight. Any drinks to get you started?”

* * *

Celia was a stellar waitress, Eren decided, and based off of Nack's constant attempts at flirting, and Mina's protective glaring, she was decently attractive too. She looked too much like her sister, and she wasn’t really quite his type anyway. Eren settled more comfortably into a quiet stoicism, his eyes following voices, from Mina to Nack, to Mylius then back again. Nack gave him a light rap with his elbow.

“So, boss, what do you think? Did you wanna’ head to the cyphers? Siss actually invited us, and you’re always looking for new stuff, right?” Eren shrugged.

“Yeah, but being swarmed by a bunch of aspiring dancers who really aren’t interested gets…exhausting.”

“But you saw the way Luke moved. He definitely doesn’t seem like the type to fake his dance.” Eren found that he could agree to that.

“Mylius still won,” quipped Mina with a smirk, and to his surprise, it got her a slight chortle out of him.

“You’re so competitive,” he heard Mylius remark followed by a customary giggle from Mina and the three of them all jumped back into another conversation. Eren, for some reason, felt strangely distant.

“Anything else I can get for you?” Eren nearly jumped from his seat at Celia's voice, turning to an embarrassed and awkward smile. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I’m always startled when I lay eyes on your good looks, Celia.” Eren winced as he heard a solid “smack” behind him.

“Nack, cut it out! I'm right here!”

“It’s not my fault she’s easy on the eyes!” Eren heard Mina hit Nack again, and Celia cleared her throat _very_ loudly.

“Mina, is this going be all for you guys?” Mina nodded.

“Yeah, I think so. And, don’t be so tense. It’s just us.”

“Oh…right…” Celia chuckled and her body relaxed; Eren could very suddenly feel her attention wanting to settle heavily onto him; she kept her attention toward her sister…mostly. Celia sighed, relieved. “Yeah, I guess you’re right…Oh, also, Eren,”

_Oh no_ …

“I um, couldn’t but help but overhear Nack's suggestion. There is a new place in town that I've heard a few other dancers talk about.” Eren wrinkled his nose at that and Celia corrected herself. “W-well, they were more like clubbers, but…I heard that it’s sort of becoming a hot spot. If you don’t feel like teaching at the cyphers, then maybe you could try that out?” Eren turned to Celia smoothly with a slow exhale.

Celia shared Mina’s same slightly angled face and slightly pointed chin but stuck out with sandy colored eyes and hair, styled shorter, and Eren's gaze caught a rising red flush across her skin; he forced a smile, and shocked himself when he realized that no one realized he was faking it.

“That sounds like a pretty interesting idea actually. We’ll check it out.” Eren gave her a curt nod, one that Celia frantically returned; it was a wonder how she hadn’t melted right there on the spot. At that, Eren, along with the others, made their way out as Celia plopped down into the empty table, face absolutely on fire.

* * *

By the way he had been moving, stomping really, Eren figured that Nack knew exactly where this new place was, and also that he was a little (A lot, actually) pissed off.

“I really don’t get how you do it, Eren.” Eren raised a brow.

“Do what?” Mina rolled her eyes.

“You know exactly what Nack's talking about, Eren.” Mina sounded far from enthused. “You know, how girls pretty much swoon over you the second they get the chance?”

“Or more concisely,” Mylius added, “Nack’s really talking about his pride.” Nack tossed a glare in Mylius's direction, and immediately, Eren felt a burning urge to turn the other way and really just go back to the hotel.

“It’s just the long hair.”

“ _Just_ the long hair? Eren, have you seen you?” Eren felt the slight twinge in Mylius then. “I have, and, it’s just me. Besides,” he paused, and the three of them paused mid-stride in curiosity. “They’re all probably just wanting a piece of the local spotlight.”

“Top 8 in the Omni _isn’t_ local, Eren.” Mina huffed in slight annoyance. “And, you’re hot! Did you see my sister back there? And she’s pretty picky about her boys.” Eren felt Mylius's jealousy sharpen, just a slight bit.

“When's the last time you even had a girlfriend anyway?” Eren flinched at the question.

“Isn’t that a little intrusive?” Nack shrugged.

“You think? It’s like Mina said, all the women just fall over you. You really thought I wasn’t gonna' ask?” Eren frowned.

“Long time ago. She didn’t really take me seriously with the whole dancing thing.”

“Man, I kinda wish she would’ve kept you. Celia didn’t even look my way once!” The remark earned Nack a sharp pinch from Mina, and a slew of warnings.

“How about we just find this place already?” He must have said that a little sharply, as both Mina and Nack paused to stare at him, both taken aback.

“You heard him Nack,” quipped Mylius. There was a subtle hint of irritability in him too, more than likely because of Mina's comment. “Lead the way.”

* * *

They had probably all expected to be led to Trost's bustling commerce district. That was what Eren had expected, but was thoroughly surprised when Nack had led them astray, moving through a few side streets away from much of Trost’s nightlife. Instead, they had arrived at a small cluster of connected buildings, looking something almost like a strip mall. Nack, standing in front, whirled around to face all three of them with what Eren could only describe as the cheesiest (and possibly mocking) toothy smile on his face.

“Ta-Da!” Eren was silent; Mina was not.

“This…is it…?” That was disappointment for sure. “There isn’t even an actual sign to say we’re in the right place.” Her face twisted in slight discomfort.

“Nack, are you sure you got the right place?”

“Yeah, definitely. You’re usually way more trusting of me, Mills.” Mylius cringed at the nickname. Nack turned to Eren, face still and for the first time all night, Eren saw actual gravity in Nack's face.

“What…?” Nack smirked at that. Eren spoke too soon.

“Really? I had thought someone who's as avoidant as you would appreciate this.”

“ I wouldn’t exactly say avoidant.”

“But definitely close to it.” And then, Nack frowned, and Eren felt his body tense. It was suddenly far too quiet for his liking.

“You’re frowning?”

“So are they,” Nack shot back.

“You guys all knew about this place before me, huh? I should've picked up on the shitty acting...” Nack nodded once, ignoring Eren's comment.

“Of course we did.” It was Mina, her voice lighter, softer than before. “You've gotten way more tense since Omni two years back.”

“Like a robot looking for error, except all the time,” Mylius chimed in. “Apparently, this is supposed to be a place where you can let go. At least, that what word of mouth is saying.”

“Have any of you actually even been inside before?” Nack gestured.

“Just me, and, it’s pretty interesting.” Then Nack was grinning again, and Eren relaxed, just marginally. Nack pulled open the entrance, and the very first thing Eren saw was a tide of flashing lights. At that moment, Eren also found that he had tuned in to a rhythmic drum, a bassline that he had not quite attempted to listen to before.

_What is that sound…?_

“Even the ‘Yaeger Bomb' needs a break.” Nack gestured again, to follow him. “So, come on.” And then, as if to disorient him even more, Nack disappeared into a flash of lights. Eren lagged behind for only a few seconds before he felt himself being guided toward the lights as well, Mina's grip firm around his wrist as she followed behind Mylius.

* * *

Eren stepped in, hot on Mina's heels and nearly toppled over her when he saw very suddenly that her hand slipped away. The music had gone silent, he noticed, and the beaming lights had seemed to shrivel and draw back as he gained his bearings. His eyes were low with observation, catching wind of Nack making is way to the bar, immediately taking to the bartender; Mylius sauntered into the seat next to Nack, a little overwhelmed, but still very much reserved like he was. That left him a few spaces behind Mina, who was expertly working her way through a crowd of people that seemed to know her expansively.

_That’s right_ , Eren remembered. They’d all been here before. Well, at least Nack had. It was interesting, really, when Eren felt a pang of something close to annoyance and then cringed inwardly when he realized it was jealousy.

No one had even approached him. They had barely noticed him, but so many had come to Mina, and quite a few people had gathered near Nack and Mylius at the bar. A part of Eren told him to scoff at the entire thing.

He wanted to scoff at the small, intimate, almost cheap feeling setting, something loosely reminiscent of an underground warehouse and bar.

He wanted to turn his nose in disgust at the pitifully low turnout of people; Celia had said that there was a blooming hot spot in the area. And it only turned out to be a sordid, and frankly shitty attempt of Nack saving his pride. This couldn’t possibly be the place that they had both been talking about.

What was this place? 

A familiar grip formed around his hand, and he glared downward to find Mina, returning a knowing grin. It was too calm for his liking in fact.

“You probably think this place is trash, huh?” Eren wriggled his brows at that. “And that little wiggle gives you away.” The lie that Eren didn’t know was forming caught in Eren’s throat. Mina giggled. “That’s what I thought. Also,” She raised a finger, coming so close to Eren's nose that he really thought to lean back; she was still smirking. “Listen.”

Mina was suddenly pointing toward the back, a little intimate space, no more than a slightly elevated corner. There was a man there, almost far too tall and lanky to be pressed into such a small space. It was hard to see everything, but Eren was able to make out a set of tables and a small stack of records not too far from him. Eren watched him closely as he worked, nervously but expertly to switching vinyl and switching the sides. Eren caught the subtle, but restrained bob of his head, his body as the music began to shift; Eren could almost feel the heat of his focus radiating from him.

There was a [pulse](https://youtu.be/ZKACcb8_70k) that swept through the space, something Eren and any other dancer knew to expect but… This one was _different_. The lighting slowly phased its way back to strength, pausing at a strange medium between dim and ethereal. Eren was suddenly far away, and had entered into something that had somehow felt familiar. The entire club seemed to settle into almost a kind of trance, moved by the same pulse thrumming in the space around him. It almost seemed as though the club had changed right before his very eyes.

The pulse had worked its way from Eren’s ears, coming to find its particular place in his chest, and it dawned on Eren that the tracks before this one had never actually paused, but had simply never caught his attention like this.

The feeling in his chest was _**rhythm**_.

Eren saw that same rhythm work through multiple different bodies there in the club, and despite the small turnout, the weight in the air had suddenly turned _electric_. He had never once seen rhythm seize so many people at once like this, and he certainly has not expected almost everyone to take to the dancefloor, hovering just slightly away from the man at his box in the corner. They were even all doing pretty well.

_What is this…?_

His eyes searched for Mina, finding the same knowing expression, lightly accented with a genuine happiness. She said nothing, but Eren knew that expression in particular on her face.

_Told you._

* * *

The leading track had mixed in with others smoothly transitioning into a faster, almost leaner essence. The pulse had changed, but never had entirely disappeared. Eren had taken to setting himself up near the bar, to catch his bearings if anything.

“Mina,” Eren heard himself speak, and it almost seemed like his voice trembled a bit to himself. “How long have you guys all known about this place?” He could feel her almost leering at him, but her smirk had fell away and she followed his eyes out to the dancefloor.

“Maybe for about a week.”

“It’s strange in here.”

“More like relaxing and free.” Eren frowned, knowing full well Mina had thrown him a quick glance. He was surprised when she said nothing about it.

“I’ve never seen so many people jump up to dance before. It’s normally just everyone gathering around to watch.”

“Like at Omni?”

“Like at any cypher,” he corrected. “And… most nightclubs are just places you can pick up your next piece of ass. It’s basically a meat market.” Mina frowned.

“But this isn’t like that.”

_“Exactly…”_ Eren had said that with a certain kind of breathy reverence. The last time he had ever said anything with that kind of enthusiasm, he had been at Omni before he decided to compete, where he watched a master and enigma simply sweep the entire competition.

“Is that excitement I’m hearing?” He turned to Mina with slight admission.

“More like…amusement…” Eren's jaw tightened defensively when he saw that Mina was _smirking_ for the third time.

“Like I'll believe that. Yaeger Bomb is almost never impressed by anything.” Then, she let out a small chuckle and turned back to floor again. “I think that Rivai would actually be great out there.” Silence.

“Y-you think so?” That time, Eren _felt_ the tremble in his voice. Mina nodded curtly.

“Yeah, he was there at the Omni the year before you decided to compete…” Eren gawked a little. “I don't think I’ve ever seen you so caught up in anything like that before or since.”

“That man-“

“Was crazy good. I remember,” Mina finished for him.

“Yeah…” Eren paused. “But, at Omni that year, he swept the competition without even trying. He danced breaking, but he was just so…”

“Creative?” Mina finished again. Eren could only nod in silence the more he thought on it. “That’s why I think he would be really great out there. You know, a lot of people here don’t even call the dancefloor the 'dancefloor' and I kind of like it.”

“Then what do they call it?”

“It’s just called 'The Space'. That’s it.” Eren closed his mouth, suddenly acutely aware of his gawking. That would make sense, he thought. If Mina thought that a legendary creative like Rivai would thrive there in such a small place, a man that was often known for outright refusing to participate if he could not read or “feel the frequency” then “the space” was undoubtedly a fitting name. Eren exhaled a breath he had no idea he had been holding, releasing tension in his shoulders, jaw, and in fact, his entire body.

Maybe that was the pulse that had swept through the place.

Maybe, this was why Rogue Crew brought him here.

“You know,” Eren began, “Rivai could be here, and we wouldn’t even know. He always wears mask when he dances.”

“Yeah, but it really doesn’t matter, does it? This isn’t Omni or a dancefloor. It’s a space.” It was Eren's turn to chuckle, and he went to look down and away to hide the twitching at the edge of his mouth, when suddenly, he had become aware of that pulse again.

He also caught sight of Mina's finger again, arched straight and taut. Eren followed it to her eyes, knowing immediately that Mina needed his attention. When she said nothing, her eyes motioning to follow, they both honed in toward The Space, both unaware that they had actually left the bar and were heading into it, drawn by the eerie, makeshift circle that had formed around in its center.

He followed Mina closely, imitating her weaving through the crowd until they came nearly to the front, and Eren was nearly _floored_.

In the space’s center were two women, inches a part, but impossibly close. The [pulse](https://youtu.be/Cg6x5AFuOCA) that Eren felt in his ears, in his chest was felt between both women, and they exchanged it between each other. One mirrored the other, being led perfectly, flawlessly, blonde hair swishing as it trailed behind her. Eren caught the conflict in that same woman’s eyes. She must not have been expecting to dance, was far too nervous to really sink into the rhythm like the crowd around them.

Yet, her partner, tall and freckled, seemed to absolutely _relish_ the whole thing, applied her lead with a soft but firm guidance; she was clearly better than her partner, but Eren was able to tell immediately that she had chosen her partner with deliberate intent.

And as that same pulse broke into a smoothness, the taller partner took the lead, the other stepped back in tepid fashion, and that woman with the freckles dance alone for a short cluster of seconds, flowing slowly with her movement, working her smoothness onto the floor space, and Eren's breath hitched, just marginally.

Some of the woman’s floor work was taken without a doubt, from breaking.

The pulse sped up again, just as the woman rose up, smooth and controlled before her partner before pulling her back into a mirroring session. They had danced that way until the track ended. The lights shifted again, this time coming together, into a sense of normalcy. Eren then realized that everything had ended; that had been the closing track and the night was over. His eyes flicked about the room, looking again for Mina and he found her just as she found him, and their exchange was evident; whatever dance that was, they figured that they both needed to learn.

* * *

“You should have seen it!” Excitement was a strange thing to Eren these days, and to a degree, he had forgotten what it felt like.

“Whatever you saw must’ve really been something if you’re actually smiling.” Nack was right, and Eren found that there was little he could say to refute it.

“I’m not too surprised,” added Mylius. “Breaking has kind of always been your thing, too. I don’t think any breakers would have had a decent time trying to match that music.”

“But if you had been there, then you would have saw what me and Mina did.” Eren could feel the emotion tingling like static at the ends of his fingers. “Some of her floor work _was_ Breaking. I’ve never seen it before.”

“The Yaeger Bomb doesn’t know a breaking move?” Eren glared at Nack’s comment and Mina had already sharply refuted him before Eren could say much of anything.

“The Yaeger Bomb still knows more than you do. Careful he doesn’t explode.” Nack frowned.

“I was joking, okay?” Mina rolled her eyes in response.

“Well, give him a break, sheesh.” Nack frowned again, and gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Alright alright. Well, I hope everyone had fun then because it’s hella late, and it can get sketchy around these parts at night.”

“That’s actually most of Trost,” Mylius quipped. Nack ignored him, and motioned for them to follow.

* * *

The crew found their way back toward the main strip of Trost, and Eren hoisted up the sleeve of his hoodie to check the time.

_2:47 am._

Had they really been gone that long? Everything had seemed so quick back there in that nightclub, no, that entire space and—

“Hey, I’m gonna head back to my room.” Eren turned to Nack, assenting with a nod. “Oh, and, sorry about the commentary and stuff Maybe I was a little salty…'

“I think I’m gonna' turn in too.” Eren's eyes flicked to Mylius. “This is only day one of Trost's dance week. I think I’ll pass on crashing and burning.” Mylius's eyes fell to Mina. “You coming too?” Eren was surprised when Mina shook her head no, and Mylius rose an eyebrow quizzically.

“I won’t be long, but I think I’ll stroll along with Eren for a while. Just to keep him out of trouble.” Mylius stood in silence, as if to contemplate something but simply shrugged, turning on his heels to follow Nack. He gave a single wave as left.

“I think he thinks something is going on,” Eren remarked after Mylius was out of earshot. “Didn’t you see how tense he got when you said I was hot earlier?” Mina laughed.

“He’s a little protective, but he’s not dumb, you know that. And he knows better anyway.” Eren conceded to that; Mina was often underestimated.

“Well,” Eren said with a slight grin. “If you really plan on following me, I’m only heading to the corner store a few blocks down if you really plan on keeping me 'out of trouble'.”

It was a normal walk, for the most part. The two had made it to that store, open strangely until 4:00 am, and Eren went through about his routine skulking for something that wasn’t junk and also tasty with little avail. He eventually settled on a single bag of people shaped gummies, and three rather expensive food bars before meeting Mina back up toward the register, hands almost as empty as his save for her own bag of gummies and a small can of natural tea.

They waited together, Eren slowly retreating back into familiar and analytical thought. There were two women in front of him, one taller than the other, something that eerily reminded him of the two women he had witnessed in The Space.

The cashier rang the two women out, and the taller one turned a little too sharply, catching Eren’s shoulder, knocking his junk from his hands; she kept moving toward the door abrasively but the other one, knelt down with a tepid tenderness with Eren to help him gather everything together.

“Urgh, please excuse Ymir, she can be kind of a bully at times.” Eren looked up at her then, just as she did; she offered him a warm smile. Eren gawked, the gravity of the situation settling into his eyes. He had found those dancers.

* * *

The short one with gleaming gold hair was Christa Historia Reiss, and the other one, tall and freckled, simply preferred to be called Ymir. They had even all coincidentally been booked at the same hotel, taking to walking together. Through those short blocks back to the hotel, Eren learned that Ymir and Christa were almost like night and day, and very much together; Ymir's arm wrapped snugly around her girlfriends waist, speaking to her both attentively and bluntly the way that only couples could do.

“So, does that mean you two are together too?” Eren heard Mina sputtering to his right at the suggestion.

“No. We’re just crewmates.” Ymir raised a brow.

“Like, dance crew mates?” Eren nodded, tossing a look of concern to Mina, who was still coughing a little.

“Yeah. The other two of Rogue Crew turned in a little bit ago, so it’s just us.” Slight recognition dawned on Christa.

“Oh, I think I’ve actually heard of you.” Eren grimaced slightly, also aware of his slight satisfaction of being familiarly noted.

“Yeah,” added Ymir. “ Isn’t the Yaeger Bomb an exclusive B-boy?”

“Well, yeah but…” Eren was uncharacteristically quiet then.

“We saw you dance,” Mina said a little harsp. She cleared her throat. “And, whatever you guys were doing was awesome.”

“Yeah,” Eren found his voice again, wondering why he had lost it in the first place under the eyes of Ymir anyway. “Everything was so fluid and alive…” Eren could feel a current building up in his bones. “There”s only one other dancer I can think of that could really be so fluid.”

_Rivai…_

“How did you do it,” Eren heard Mina, a little distantly before he tuned back in. He saw Ymir turn to Christa with a loving gaze, who pinked under her eyes with a nervous smile.

“You just have to have inspiration is all.”

“What style was it? It definitely wasn’t breaking that’s for sure!”

“House.” Ymir had said it shortly, curtly.

“House?” Mina was showing everything that Eren refused to; she was absolutely and visibly enthralled.

“It’s pretty nice when you can dance and be your real self.” Ymir's words struck something in Eren and he found himself listening attentively. “House definitely let’s you do that, and express things in ways other dances can’t, especially when they might be based around battling.”

“Breaking isn’t all battling,” Eren heard himself say, almost defensively.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Ymir replied with a wave of her hand. “But you probably feel like you have to dance with a certain kind of power and attitude sometimes, don’t you?” Eren furrowed his brows. She wasn’t exactly wrong when he thought about it. “Christa was definitely my inspiration.” Eren’s eyes flicked to the girl in question, who was full-on red now.

“Ymir, you’re embarrassing me...”

“Oh stop it. It’s true!” Ymir tugged Christa closer, tighter, and turned her attention back to them, more sharply toward Eren. She was smirking, although it was nothing like Mina’s. It was piercing, almost mocking. Her eyes were now settled on Eren entirely.

“I’m always glad that people can feel what I’m inspired by when I dance.”

“Love,' Eren heard Mina ask. Eren wasn’t surprised at all that Mina understood. He had seen her dance together with Mylius and it seem to always be a perfect connection.

“Love.” Ymir assented, but her eyes never left Eren's. “So then, tell me 'Yaeger Bomb', if you were so moved by dance, then where's the lucky lady?” Eren froze.

“Dance is dance, and I appreciate it all.” Eren remarked sourly. Ymir didn’t flinch.

“Yeah but you were _moved_. How can you be moved by something so intimate if you haven’t experienced it so recently?” Eren felt his eyes narrowing in annoyance. “Maybe there’s someone you admire? Pining for and you won’t admit it?”

“Doubt it.” Another short and barbed response, but Ymir kept pushing.

“Or maybe you’re scared to, because sometimes aggressive cultures just aren’t so accepting of outside the norm. Maybe you admire this person, and they’re not even a woman at all.”

Something in Eren snapped.

“Why don’t you fuck off!?” And he lashed out, moving to strike at Ymir but fell short as Mina snapped into action impossibly fast like he had never seen her do before, snapping his arms to his sides and reeling him in and away.

“Ymir,” it was Christa. “That was too far. Maybe he’s just very in-tune to things…” Ymir shrugged.

“Maybe.” But Ymir’s eyes were settling into Eren again, piercing but a margin less aggressive. In fact, she was amused. “Hey, bombastic.” Eren leveled her stare. “You should come on in to the XL more often. You’ll probably learn more about yourself than you think. Also…”

Eren's expression softened at the invitation.

“Also…?”

“If you two are really serious about learning some house, then me and a friend of mine will be willing to teach so, come on by the XL if you really want.” And then, the two women were gone. Eren slumped in Mina’s arms then.

_The XL_ …

It had been a while since Eren had felt such an electricity in one place, even longer since he was truly able to feel someone else’s dance without picking it a part. Eren, oddly enough, found himself thinking of “Rivai”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not all that versed in breaking entirely, so if any readers also break then I'm all ears.
> 
> Also,
> 
> Special thanks to Flamoria for helping me with the link music thing. I hope I did it right.


	3. Bertolt Pt. 1: Hoo-dini

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every meeting happens entirely by chance, or so they say...right?

Bertolt shifted slightly, uncomfortably as he looked over the piece of paper in his hands. A contract? What was he doing with a contract in his hands?

"Fledgel says you were immaculate up on the decks, whatever that is." Bertolt's eyes flicked back upwards and was quickly reminded why, exactly, he felt less than sound.

Dimo Reeves was a short and stout man, dressed in dark business attire that seemed to make the man ooze with a certain kind of feeling, sleaze, for lack of a better term. Or, maybe that was just Bertolt's own thoughts playing tricks on him again.

"…What exactly am I signing here?" There was a shadow of something, probably dismay that passed over Dimo's face; he cleared his throat aggressively and Bertolt felt his jaw tighten.

"What do you mean? It's exactly what I've been trying to explain to you this entire time. We've been looking for the most cutting edge talents Trost has to offer, and you definitely fit the bill!" Bertolt wasn't convinced.

"But…there's probably a lot of good talent in other places. I just like to share music…"

"The way Fledgel talked about the SNL or whatever he said makes it seem like you have a know-how much better than what you're giving yourself credit for!" An all too familiar lump settled in Bertolt's throat.

"I just…play what sounds good really."

"He DJ's, and he likes it that way." Bertolt caught wind of the shift (and slightly deeper hint of dismay) in Dimo's expression. He must have not figured Reiner would be there with them and if he were honest, Bertolt had actually forgotten that himself too, but appreciative of it all the same.

"That might be true, but I'm really here to help out your friend here. You don't think I'll just let some great talent go unnoticed do you?" Dimo paused in thought then. "Uh, Kramer, right?"

" _Reiner_." Reiner's response was frank, and Bertolt shoulders tensed familiarly and dug into his couch seat; it would be nice to have a backbone like Reiner. "And, I don't think Bertolt here is too fond of pressure." The lump in Bertolt's throat ran dry as Dimo turned his gaze back into him, watching him impossibly close.

_Damn it Reiner!_

Dimo let out an amused chuckle then.

"Well, I suppose I can't change your mind if you really have a conviction like that on staying independent. But, at the very least," Reeves reached in his pockets, retrieving a simple, but ornately designed business card and tossed it leisurely on the table between them. "Keep me in mind. There are connections of mine that would shoot you into the forefront of this music."

* * *

"Dimo is a snake if you ask me." Reiner had said that more aggressively than Bertolt was used to, which definitely meant that he was annoyed at best, and livid at worst. Bertolt took a deep breath, at the ready to calm Reiner if he felt his anger too entirely.

"It was only an offer for a record label, Reiner."

"Only if you're not looking hard enough. You should know about business men like him. DJ at a few of his events, so he can sell merch."

"Maybe at decent pay, right?" Reiner scoffed.

"In 'exposure' not dollars. Especially if you spin some of your original stuff. He'd make all of the profit anyway." A pause. "Besides, Erwin actually _paid_ you, upfront and made it worth your time too."

"Money isn't always the goal, Reiner."

"No, but Erwin is definitely all about the self-expression. And he still. Paid you. A pretty nice sum too."

Oh.

Reiner was _certainly_ right about that, for one thing. Bertolt's lips purser together in preparation for an empty retort. He sighed.

"Yeah, yeah…" His response was low, under his breath almost.

"Hey, knock that off, will you?"

"Knock what off?" Bertolt strained to keep his eyes away from Reiner, who was unflinching with his gaze.

" _That._ I can agree with that snake about one thing and it's the fact that you really don't give yourself credit. Bigwigs want money and need talent to do it, don't they? I'm not too into the idea of my friends getting screwed out of a profit." Bertolt sighed, somewhat timid and annoyed.

"I've already said it before, I'm really only sharing music. I wouldn't call myself a talent."

"Even though you just turned down a label offer?"

"You said it was shady." Reiner nodded at that; there was no denying that, that was for sure.

"Even though you have over 10,000 followers on _The Coordinate?"_

"It's just social media," Bertolt retorted again; he could feel a flush coming to his cheeks and noted that Reiner had slid in a little closer, a knowing smirk curled at the edge of his mouth. Reiner's response was slow and deliberate.

"Even when you had the XL in the palm of your hand like you did? And that was just your first time playing there. You saw the cypher circle yourself, and you _definitely_ saw people feed off your music choice." Something shifted in Reiner's eyes then, and his smirk suggested something Bertolt was _more_ than familiar with. "You got people to 'house' like you wanted, and a cypher to boot." Bertolt pressed his lips together, in an attempt to hide a grin forming on his lips. He did remember, and was distinctly proud of that moment. But, he was just Bertolt, and sometimes, it felt like Reiner had far too much trust in him at times, and knew for a fact that Reiner was, in short time, very close to him; Bertolt chuckled. He stood up, purposefully making distance from Reiner.

"You know, I think I'm gonna' just…step out for a minute." Reiner raised a brow, Bertolt realizing almost a little too immediately that Reiner was disappointed.

"Oh. On your way to play another show for free?" Bertolt responded with a bemused grunt. There wasn't much Bertolt was really certain about, but this…

He spoke gingerly, and knowingly.

"It's to let you calm down. We're roommates now. I wanna keep it that way." Then, Bertolt disappeared. Reiner sank back into the couch then, with his own expression of amusement. "Yeah but…I don't."

* * *

Bertolt shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he stepped outside, looking over the slightly busy streets of Trost. He had been here for a little while now, his set at the XL last month marking his and Reiner's fourth consecutive month. He gave the short glance back to his apartment, laughing a little under his breath. Reiner had never been that straightforward before.

He turned his eyes back out into the streets of Trost, again noting the busyness of the district. Even at 8pm, he could catch wind of a non-stop, sleepless current in the air, people moving busily, the sputtering noises of cars; the sheer weight of it all had actually overwhelmed him a little.

It was far too noisy, and Bertolt was quick to fit his favorite pair of headphones over his head, quickly making his way for the light rail. Trost's Comrade Centre Park was always a peaceful go to and ten minutes in the opposite direction from downtown, something he was grateful for.

Bertolt was absorbed his entire trek toward his destination, sifting through his music, so engrossed that he had nearly missed his stop, and floundered both embarrassingly and awkwardly to make his way to the doors. He had expected to step out into a nice, fresh breeze, and that was exactly what he got. At least, for a very short amount of time, anyway.

There was a timid tap on his shoulder; Bertolt very nearly ignored it, pulling himself, a little disgruntled, from his playlist but stiffened up in awkward surprise when he turned to find himself staring at not just at one person, but a complete group of three; two boys, one girl, and she quickly took the initiative.

"Excuse me, this might sound like a strange question but," Bertolt's eyes narrowed just a fraction. "Me and my friends were wondering if you might've played a show at a place called the XL? He says you look familiar."

Bertolt froze on the spot.

"Yeah," one of the boys, ash blonde and sour looking stepped forward a little more, which meant the one hanging behind, beyond timid, was probably the one that recognized him. "Eren behind us wasn't exactly sure if it was you but, looking at you, you look pretty familiar."

"Mind if we get a picture?" Bertolt's eyes flicked back to the girl, catching a fleeting feeling of mutual familiarity. Her was hair twisted into two tails resting just below her shoulders, and her eyes a little challenging but enthusiastic as she looked into him. It was almost like she knew Bertolt was _desperately_ attempting to muster up a solid and stark "no".

He found that his voice had decided to dry up instead.

"Hey, guys. Maybe we got the wrong guy?" Bertolt felt both a stab of relief and disappointment. He was a DJ, and wasn't he supposed to be good at meeting with the crowd? A second glance back the third one, the quiet one revealed that he was not timid at all, but almost rather disinterested, and he hung back, distinctly disconnected although Bertolt had caught a flash of something when his eyes flicked over to meet his.

Was that recognition? A veiled excitement? Bertolt watched two of them bicker back and forth, hearing an off-hand comment from one of them of how he was "not sweaty enough" to be "Hoo-Dini from the XL".

Bertolt wasn't too sure he were more hurt from the sweaty comment or the fact that they were discussing the matter right in front of him.

"I _am_ Hoo-Dini," Bertolt heard himself blurt, almost uncontrollably. "And…I'll take a picture with you!" The three of them paused, turning to Bertolt. None of them seemed to believe him at all. The girl, who Bertolt overheard Eren refer to as Mina, seemed especially unconvinced.

"I don't know if I believe either of those."

"Nack would probably know. He's the one that remembers everyone, face and name."

"Nack isn't here, Mylius." That was directed at "ash-blonde". So that was his name. Eren spoke up, unerringly flat, through the other two, who can together in silence. Eren was _definitely_ far from timid.

"Hey, Hoo-dini,"

"You actually believe me?" Eren shrugged.

"I don't really know yet, but you definitely responded pretty quickly and naturally, so maybe. Where you heading?" Bertolt caught the slight shift in Eren's eyes and his demeanor. From what Bertolt could tell, Eren had his own way of confirming faces.

"I…" Bertolt, for a moment, felt his mind reaching for excuses. "Don't really know."

"You don't?" Bertolt gave a curt shake of his head, feeling a strange mix of surging of confidence under Eren's eyes. 

_No real reason to lie, right?_

"I thought I would just get out of the house. You know, fresh air and all."

"Roommate?" Bertolt felt his face run hot at Mylius"s inquiry.

"Y-yeah something like that…" Bertolt caught a frown written into Eren's features, a reverb of feeling communicated to Bertolt as mostly stoic but also something _somber_.

"We were heading to the XL later tonight if you wanted to tag along." Both Mina and Mylius turned to Eren in surprise.

"But I thought-"

"It might be able to keep you out of your place for a while if you don't want to deal with your roommate." Another awkward silence settled in between all of them, and Mina made a second attempt to speak.

"Eren, didn't you say that we're supposed to be meeting back up at the hotel with Nack?" Eren ignored her comment, and as Eren focused his attention toward him, Bertolt felt his strange confidence harden in his chest.

"A chance to see the "'Yaeger Bomb' in action?" There was another shift in Eren's face, obvious to Bertolt this time that they each knew who the other was. "You're on."

* * *

It had been a entire month since he had done his set at the XL, and it more than likely showed. From what he had remembered something as a small and punitive group less than 50 people had become at least double from then. 

There had even been others who recognized him there too, some asking for a signature, and others showing off multiple videos they had taken of the crowd before, and more awkwardly, videos of himself nervously (and admittedly sweatily) performing.

_"Your set was sick!"_

_"You're way too good!"_

_"I hope a label finds you soon!"_

Praise was nothing he wasn't accustomed to. It had actually been the sheer amount of compliments and recognition in person that was beyond dizzying. Even still, Bertolt had never lost focus on Eren, the "Yaeger Bomb" as everyone knew him, who remained familiarly inexpressive, and almost bored, save a slight upturn of the lips in amusement.

"I think you're the first DJ I've met that's not into himself."

"I just share music, really."

"Are you always this modest?" Bertolt shrugged tepidly.

"I guess…? Reiner definitely has quite a bit of faith in me."

"Reiner?"

"Oh, sorry. That's my roommate I was talking about earlier."

"Or...something like that?" Heat flooded into Bertolt's cheeks.

"Y-yeah…that one…" There was suddenly the same frown from earlier.

"I hadn't thought your "something like that" person was actually another man…" Eren's tone struck a nerve and Bertolt's response was righteously sharp.

"Old flame, but still a good friend." His eyes sharpened. "That's not a problem, is it?" Eren responded with a disinterested toss of his shoulders.

"Not even a little. I was just..surprised. Gay or not whatever you share definitely has an effect," Eren paused to give a broad gesture to the XL, again filled with more people than Bertolt remembered. "Like this." A pause of silence settled between them, and Bertolt, while pausing to take in everything around him, found that most of his attention and a little of his ire, was still on an enigmatic Eren. There had to be more to him than his constant disinterest.

"Why did decide to invite me here, anyway?" Eren's eyes flicked fire, the tiniest of smirks replacing the his frown from moments before.

"I really just wanted to see how you do this." He gestured to the club a second time, his eyes noticeably intent on the dancefloor. Bertolt could see the other two of Eren's group, Mylius and Mina, among the dancers, with Mylius without a doubt of his comfort zone with the music.

"How _I_ do this?" Eren nodded matter-of-factly.

"I was here, about a month ago, and I know you were that sweaty wreck in the corner I saw." Again, Eren paused, to gather himself. "But you still had an entire club at your fingertips. I've never seen so many people dance like that at once."

"You…haven't…?" Eren shook his head, a little offended at Bertolt's ignorance.

"No, it's always people standing around timidly of being terrified of rhythm. I really don't understand how you made them move like that…" Eren clenched his jaw. "Even I wanted to dance, but… had no idea how…" There was a crack in the mask, and Bertolt, for a slight moment, saw something close to wounded pride, slight despair and most notably, a certain kind of confusion. That piece of Eren all suddenly came together for Bertolt.

"I can't tell you how to feel the music." Eren's made a failed attempt to hide his dismay, expression caught awry. "You just…have to feel it, and move your body to that feeling." Bertolt shrugged. He wasn't a dancer. At least, not a very great one like Reiner.

He was a DJ, or something like it, and was giving advice way outside of his comfort zone. Eren had gone quiet then, turning his focus wholly to the dance floor.

"How can I be 'Yaeger Bombastic' and not know how to dance to something…?" Bertolt let out a tense breath. If he knew this was going to happen, he would've rejected the invitation outright for sure. Eren had without a doubt had become brooding. It had become apparent that there was more to the Yaeger Bomb than most people had known. Eren stood up suddenly, probably aware of his impending vulnerability. "You'll have to excuse me."

And then, Eren stormed off intently toward Mina and Mylius. Bertolt had even watched Eren interact with them, all three of them stepping over to the bar, where it became almost painfully apparent how much more Eren trusted Mina, as Mylius seemed to almost take on a third wheel kind of role, a not-so-subtle air of annoyance taking shape around him.

"It seems like he hasn't been here too many times, now has he?" There was a slight pang of recognition at that voice, enough for Bertolt to glance over and find a tall and well-dressed Erwin Smith standing before them.

* * *

It had only been the second time that Bertolt had met him, but there could be no mistaking the "Erwin Smith". He was dressed semi-formally, slacks and an immaculately fitted long-sleeved button down; he had left the cuffs undone.

"You must not remember me, I take it?" Bertolt had nothing to say, probably from pure shock, and had gone to reach for something, anything to say. Erwin, like Eren earlier, chuckled, amused. "Don't worry about it." Bertolt followed Erwin's eyes over to Eren, and for a moment they both simply observed the three of them.

"It's sad, isn't it?" Erwin's words caught Bertolt off-guard. "It seems like he really would like to let go, but he's scared."

"Scared?" Bertolt wished Reiner had been there to slap him. He had struggled to find something of substance to say and instead, that was all he could muster.

"Of course. Living so impassively around so many who are entirely themselves isn't very easy, if at all possible. I'm sure you could see it in his face; he was holding back." Bertolt's eyes narrowed.

"How long have you been watching us?"

" I had actually noticed _you_ , 'Hoo-dini' and meant to grab your attention sooner, but it would have been rude to single you out in a group of people."

"You noticed _me_?" Erwin chuckled a second time.

"Of Course. There were a lot of people clamoring for your name or the next time you would come back to the XL. And needless to say, I was rather impressed with your expression myself."

"You're kidding. I just. share. Music. I don't dance like some of the others that come out this way. I just like to express myself with music. The dancers are the real attraction."

"Bertolt, what do you think the XL _is_?" It was a surprisingly basic question, one that Bertolt was beginning to vaguely remember an exchange between him and Erwin when he booked him for the first time at the XL. Bertolt could see the satisfaction light up Erwin's features, which meant he could probably see that Bertolt knew the answer.

It was a safe space for freedom of expression.

For art, in the best way that anyone who entered those four walls knew how, and for Bertolt, it was at the decks.

"It seems quite obvious to me," Erwin continued, "That you doubt yourself, just like Eren does." Erwin left Bertolt to his silence for a slight few moments, instead, opting to guide his attention to the decks, where Bertolt remembered standing a month ago, and where another was now standing.

He was a tall, hulking man, even by Bertolt's standards, but unlike him, this man was playing with confidence, an utmost focus worked into his features as he wiped away sweat andsand loose strands of hair from his eyes, accented by a lipped grin and a quirky and somewhat constant slight twitch of the nose. Bertolt glanced away for a moment to observe the crowd, who were almost frenzied in their euphoria, not unlike what he remembered seeing at his set.

But they were always under the DJ's spell, always moving as he saw fit, they had seemed to climb even higher still, as the DJ made a [transition](https://youtu.be/a6tU4ulZzMY), shifting into a set of sound that had caught even Bertolt off-guard, namely because it was a track that he actually hadn't heard before. This was what a _real_ DJ was like. He would definitely have to get his hands on a copy of this track.

"Mike's sets are always heartfelt." Erwin had managed to pull his attention back into the conversation but Bertolt kept his eye towards the man in the corner. "This is the kind of self-expression and visual art I want here at the XL." Bertolt turned to Erwin, jaw clenched and tight-mouthed, and Erwin met him head-on with a stoic and immovable resolve.

"He's a real DJ. The dancefloor is packed."

"Mike simply knows how to work The Space. Did you forget it's more than just a 'dancefloor', Bertolt?"

"It has been an entire _month_."

"And you've somehow found a way to return, and in your free time at that."

"How could I _not_ have any doubt when there are DJ's like that coming to the XL? There's definitely other people that could use all the praise, like Mike. I'm surprised that you noticed me because of an ordinary set, or whatever it was." There was a pinch of irony and a flood of realization then that Erwin had been spot on in his comparison, because there he was, doing the exact same thing he had just noted about Eren.

There was a subtle reaction on Erwin's part, which was a simple raise of his brows and a subtle glance back over to Mike.

"I've noted you not only because I found your expression enthralling," There was a strange and quick pause in Erwin for a second, something Bertolt caught onto as well. "But because Nosedive Zacharias did as well." That name rang a bell for Bertolt, and he took the bait, admittedly a little too excitedly.

"You mean, _the_ Nosedive? As in, the Dogface Label Nosedive?" Erwin nodded only once. Almost immediately after, Bertolt gathered himself then, an air of skepticism underlining his voice. "How do you expect me to believe that?"

"Because you must not have taken the closest look at the decks. He's the one here DJ-ing as we speak." 

Bertolt gawked.

" _That's_ the 'Mike' you were talking about? 'Nosedive' Zacharias?" Another nod.

"He and his record label are mainstays here at the XL. He's a long-time friend and co-owner here. I trust his word and assessment of talent. If he sees it, then I trust there is some basis." Bertolt felt as though the entire world had stopped then.

_Say something, you dummy_!

Of course, there was nothing. Erwin extended his hand out over across the table.

"We both would like to have 'Hoo-dini' here as a resident DJ here at the XL."

"M-me?"

"There isn't another "Hoo-dini that either Mike or myself is aware of, so yes, _you_. Authentic expression and art is what drives the XL. It is a _creative_ space." Erwin was grinning in complete confidence, and to Bertolt, everything suddenly appeared extraordinarily overwhelming.

He thought suddenly how not only had he caught the eye of very ethereal Erwin, but of Mike "Nosedive" Zacharias, one of the best DJ's and producers he had ever seen, and a personal idol even. If they both saw something in him, then, maybe he really had been doing more than just sharing music.

Maybe he might really be able to what Mike was doing this very night.

He also thought very suddenly of Dimo Reeves and the record label deal that he could be passing up. Dimo also claimed that he could place "this type of music" to the forefront of culture, and make him, Bertolt Hoover, into something of a superstar.

But, for him, it always inevitably, came back to the music and sharing that same music.

"Forgive me," Erwin interjected. His hands were back at his sides, though Erwin seemed to hold an expression of slight disappointment. "It seems as though I may have come on with too strong of an offer. You seem conflicted."

"That's…not too far from the truth."

"I see..." Erwin stood then, tossing one last look over to Mike, who still held controlled The Space with the utmost mastery. Another circle had formed, not unlike last time, and many people had all gone in, exchanging with each other the best way they knew how.

"Then, allow me to at least offer you another booked slot here, as a solo artist, and as a personal acquaintance of mine and Mike's. It'll be about two weeks from now if you're interested. I hope to see you then, and I'm sure that many others do too." Bertolt watched then, both in excitement and confusion, as Erwin disappeared from sight, leaving behind his number, and an even more steely resolve of confidence in Bertolt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really just want more of Mike flexing on everyone so, you can probably expect more that soon-ish.


	4. Mina/Annie Pt. 1: Brìtva

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She sometimes wishes people could see her.  
> But does she really even see herself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really long.  
> This was really difficult to write.  
> Typing on phones is not fun  
> Will probably also edit for little mistakes and junk.
> 
> I thought they'd be vignettes but I was wrong
> 
> Why.
> 
> But she is my favorite redshirt though.

Mina hadn’t expected to find herself all the way out in Dauper, and was, now that she was thinking about it, grateful that the district capital of Rose had opted for complete connection with its outlying towns and cities.

But because of that, she found herself lying on her back, face glistened with sweat and chest heaving. Above all, her stomach and chest were absolutely _burning_. Ymir was a hard teacher, and quite honestly, not a very good one and how Christa had managed to move so succinctly and in tandem with her at the XL was beyond Mina.

Maybe if Christa was here to practice with them now, Ymir would have been a little more lenient.

“Done already, Carolina? C'mon, you didn’t think it would be easy like that, did you?” Mina ignored Ymir’s croon. She had only been lying there for a few seconds. She needed to catch her breath.

“Ugh…You make it look so easy…”

“It is, but I guess that’s what a couple of years worth of practice will do for you. And this is just the warm-up.” Mina could feel Ymir squatting over her, more than likely amused; Mina didn’t want to look to find out. They were all quiet for a moment until she had heard Ymir hoist herself up, stepping her way back toward the front of the studio. “Or, you can just stay down there. That works too.”

“Did you work Christa this hard teaching her too?” Ymir gave a toss of her shoulders.

“If I did, she didn’t really say much. I’d rather have her here to help me out a little.”

“Where is she, anyway?”

“It’s her dad’s birthday. So, it’s just us.”

Some of the burning whittled down, and Mina glanced to her right; Eren seemed like he was faring just as well as she had, maybe a little better. A thin sheen of sweat glistened over his face.

“We haven’t even actually learned all that much about the dance,” he grumbled. That earned him a shifty side-eye. “ This is all cardio!”

“Complaining isn’t going to do you any good. And, I thought the Yaeger Bomb would know how important cardio is.”

“You can stop hanging that ‘Yaeger Bomb’ shit over my head any day now…”

If she were honest, Mina actually empathized with Eren, and she definitely found Ymir’s jabs more than a little annoying just by proximity. She was also curious exactly why they had come to Dauper anyway. It was far removed from the rest of Rose’s real metropolitan area.

Ymir caught wind of her expression, turning toward Mina with the same shifty look she had fixed on Eren.

“You probably want to know why the hell we’re all the way out in Dauper, huh?”

“Well, I _am_ surprised that there was even a studio out this far. It’s kind of rinky-dink and not at all your style. At least from what I’ve come to figure.”

“Yeah,” Eren chimed in. “You don’t seem like the small-ville type.”

“Oh, shut up.” Ymir snapped. “I didn’t say that I was gonna’ teach you guys alone, just so we’re clear. I know someone better suited to be the main teacher.” Then, Ymir was back to her blank, and subtly antagonizing stare. Again, her eyes rested mostly on Eren, who fidgeted ever so slightly under her gaze, like he had a month before.

Ymir was onto something. She saw Eren break eye contact.

“I’m surprised someone so stubborn would admit they’re bad at something…”

“Hey, sorry I’m late!” Both Ymir and Eren shifted and Mina followed, watching as a woman came rushing in, a little short of heaving. Mina turned back to Ymir; she was smirking. This was someone she clearly knew.

“Oh, you finally made it, Spud.”

“Aw, knock it off. I told you that in confidence!” She took a few deep breathes before regaining her composure. She turned first to Eren, and then to Mina. “You guys are who Ymir was talking about?” Mina turned to Eren, who also shared the same hint of surprise.

 _She was talking about us…?_ The girl placed a hand out.

“I’m Alexandria. Well, that’s actually my middle name, and the one a lot of people know me by. It’s really just Sasha. Sasha Braus.” And then, there was the warmest smile. “I guess I’ll be teaching you two everything I know. Since Ymir’s got you guys warmed up, let’s queue up a track and start with the _real_ basics.”

* * *

“[One](https://youtu.be/7mzZvsFMPw8) and two and three and four and…”

Mina was utterly _lost_. When Sasha had walked through those doors, she hadn’t expected to move from Ymir’s step-by-step approach to floundering miserably just to trail keep up. There had been so many things that Sasha had shown the both of them, and neither one of them could keep up all that well; Sasha’s feet were fluid and deceptively quick, and what was more, she seemed to never lose her groove. Mina steeled herself and attempted to follow…

And landed almost face first onto the floor. This time, Mina was far too embarrassed to get up.

“O-oi, Sasha…you call that basic?” Sasha paused, blankly for a moment before smiling.

“Yeah, and it might look intimidating, but if you were watching, I did everything on a loop. It’s not as hard as you think, Eren. I promise.” That caught her attention, and Mina (bravely, in her opinion,) lifted herself upright.

“You did?” Sasha nodded again.

“Didn’t Ymir show you anything?”

“Hey, don’t point all the fingers at me. I showed them a few of the basics. Maybe it just didn’t stick.”

“You can be honest about being a show-off too.” Ymir shrugged. “Anyway,” Sasha began. “I’ll do it slower. Watch closely!”

Both students had done just that, and as Sasha continued, Mina found herself slowly, but surely, managing to find her patterns. She caught a glimpse of Eren at the edges of her vision.

He also seemed to be up to speed, and he watched even more sharply.

 _As usual_ …

In fact, Mina wouldn’t be surprised if Eren were able to pick up Sasha’s routine quickly. It had even seemed easy enough for her.

“Hey, it seems like you guys are getting it! You two are fast learners!” Mina kept her focus straight, watching Sasha’s reflection in the mirror and blotting out Ymir’s watchful eye off to the side. A smirk caught the edges of Sasha’s lips, and suddenly, she switched things up.

It hadn’t been anything too explosive, and Mina, despite her first few missteps, found that it actually came quickly to her. She had caught on to Sasha’s counts, and followed her. Amateurishly, but followed her nonetheless.

_Jack, Jack, Heel, Heel, Stomp, Heel, Spin…_

Warmth bloomed in Mina’s chest. She was actually getting it down!

Mina managed to steal a quick glance back over to Eren, and found that he had stopped entirely, and that his expression was anything but content.

She had never seen him so indignant before.

It had only been a split second, but it was still enough to throw her off, and Mina was quickly stumbling to follow Sasha. She resolved to find her flow a second time, but found that Eren’s expression burned in her mind at every attempt. Sasha must have known, because only seconds later, she slowed things down and when Eren stepped back in shame, she halted entirely, opting to break.

“Hey, guys. Quick breather. Everything might be coming a little fast, so…take a few minutes to practice on your own if you want. We can get back into it in 10!” And then, she went on her way toward Ymir, either to talk excitedly to her about them, or chastise her instead. Mina’s eyes lingered at Sasha’s back, bracing herself with a deep breath to piece Eren back together like she normally did.

“You must be getting tired of this,” came his low murmur. She turned to him, and bit back the impulse to agree with him.

He was right. It _was_ annoying.

But they were friends, and good ones at that.

“Well, it’s closer to baffled, really…”

“Half-truths only get you far with people who don’t have an eye for them.”

“Or, maybe it’s what I’m really thinking.”

“But it’s not. Mylius was actually kind of annoyed with me butting in the first few times we were at the XL.”

“You remember _that_?” There was a low edge in Mina’s voice, and it didn’t make its way past Eren.

“There it is.” Mina sighed exasperated.

“Ugh, okay, okay. It _is_ annoying, but not because of the reason you think.” He eyed her coolly, cynically was a term more accurate for her. “Eren, I know and the rest of Rogue Crew knows how good you are. This house stuff might be a little different from the breaking we’re used to, but…you’ll catch on, you always do.” He said nothing at first, opting to hold his gaze for a little while longer. It didn’t matter, Mina wasn’t going to fold.

He looked down suddenly.

“But…what if I don’t?” Mina gaped a little at that. “What if I can’t take to this, and everyone comes to know? What if I made top 8 by luck and not by skill?” His voice came lower still. “I didn’t just place in the top 8, I placed at the bottom of the 8…”

“They all had been dancing much longer than you, Eren.”

“You would think 17 years would be enough for me.” A scowl worked its way into his features. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to win with people being that good. They were people _Rivai_ would battle.”

Mina hadn’t even noticed she had been scowling herself, but she made note of her lapse of thought. Both hands were planted firmly on Eren’s shoulders. She was squeezing a little tightly too.

“You’re kidding…” Eren kept his eyes down, but Mina gave him a harsh shake and he bucked upwards surprised; her expression softened. “Does that mean you think everyone else you won against doesn’t mean anything? You are _Eren Yaeger_ and you placed top 8 at OmniFest at _twenty-one_.” She let go. “Dancing isn’t about winning. It’s about expression, remember? You’re the one who told me that when I got too technical when we first started.”

“Heh,” he chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah. I guess I did, huh?” He picked his head up, and expected to see her grinning at him, like she often did, but Mina instead frowned, and his small grin disappeared.

“Eren, you’ve got to be more confident than this. The whole idea of OmniFest is going to burn you out if you keep taking it so seriously.” He was quiet then for a few moments, but his mouth seemed to quiver with a thought. He was instead interrupted by a timid knock on the studio doors.

“Um, excuse me, is this where I can find…” The boy paused, and Mina watched him closely as he scanned over the studio and everyone in it. He was tense and with Ymir being in the room without Historia to restrain her, Mina found she couldn’t really fault him for that.

The boy went to speak again, this time, a certain kind of gleam igniting behind his eyes as Mina figured that he also must've known who Sasha was. Even if he did, he had focused all of his attention over on Eren, who may as well had been stone from how rigid he had become, especially as that same newcomer took him into his arms with excitement.

* * *

When she stopped to think about it, Mina often realized how strange her last month had been, and if anything, it may have all started with Nic’s idea to take Eren to the XL.

She had, in hindsight, met the up and coming Hoo-dini, even if she didn’t believe it until Eren confirmed it himself. And, as it so happened to turn out, the boy that had shown up there looking for Eren was a music and dance journalist by the name Armin Arlert.

Through him, she had quickly learned that even if neither her or Eren had any real idea of who she was, Sasha was one of the best house dancers on district Rose’s western half, and that most people knew her as “Alexandria”.

_That explains the awkward introduction on her part…_

“Eren,” Mina tuned in to Armin’s excitement. “It’s been a little while. Reebs has been sending me all over for stories and stuff like that. I haven’t really had a chance to check in until now!”

“Well, you did choose to be a journalist, you know. I thought you mostly sat at a computer and type away.” Armin grinned, abashed.

“Well, yeah, but…it’s like I said, I finally got a chance to actually follow up on something and someone I’m really interested in!”

“And that’s…?”

“Well, I had originally come to Dauper for Alexandria. She recently started to offer classes here in Dauper after she did a showcase at the Underground.”

Eren gawked. And Mina did the same. She certainly wasn’t expecting _that_.

“She _what_?” She saw Armin draw back subtly, but sharp all the same. He levelled his excitement then.

“Well…that was only a part of it. I also wanted to see how you were doing too. As a friend and interviewer to the Breaking prodigy that placed top 8! I wanted to do a personal follow-up for both Reeb’s press and also for your mom too. Don’t you think Carla would be a _ecstatic_?” Armin had said that with something a little more than just restrained excitement.

It sounded actually a little hopeful.

Mina eye's darted between the both of them before her eyes settled heavily onto Eren. He looked past Armin, and only shrugged in response.

“I’ll think about it. For now, how about you stick with your main story for Alexandria? It might get you somewhere.” He was moving impossibly fast then, snatching up his belongings before taking off through the doors and out from Dauper.

* * *

For the first few moments afterwards, Mina was both speechless and awkward. Luckily for her, Armin seemed to be right there with her.

“…So, uh…” Mina flinched inwardly.

_Please don’t…_

“I’m…Armin…” He put a hand out, which seemed to make him all the more uncomfortable. “I, um, didn’t realize that I was interrupting something…”

Well, that was certainly unexpected.

She took up his offer, clasping her hand in his.

“I’m—”

“Mina Carolina, right?”

“Y-yeah…” She tensed, and that feeling of disconnect came back even stronger. Mina withdrew her hand but still managed a (albeit distorted) smile, hoping that she could hide her discomfort. She was sure the awkwardness was going to swallow her whole at this point.

“H-hey, I know that sounds bad but…I am a journalist and you’re part of Rogue Crew. I- I’ve done my research, and…I did come here for Alexandria, I promise!” He had said that reflexively, and…with a tinge of pleading.

Which probably meant her attempt clearly had failed miserably and maybe he was expecting some kind of righteous fury, and if Mina were as hot-blooded as Eren used to be, then that might have been something she would have done. But…

Armin did make a point, and had said something about that earlier, hadn’t he? It was a small detail that Mina had quickly forgotten, and then, she was laughing. And here she had thought, even for a split-second, that he had come out of interest for _her_.

“Y-you’re laughing?”

“Sorry about that. It’s just that…my mind had went somewhere else entirely.”

“He probably thinks you’re crazy.” Mina squeaked.

“S-Sasha!” Ymir sauntered in next to her.

“Huh, she really forgot we were here, didn’t she?” Sasha chuckled.

“Well, someone had to come save these two. It was kind of harsh just to watch them flounder like that.”

“You think so? I thought it was kind of funny.”

“That’s because you’re kind of mean.”

“ _ **Ahem**_.” Neither of them had even noticed Mina, taking to bantering between the both of them; She huffed annoyed.

“Is Sasha normally like this?” Mina shrugged at Armin's question.

“Huh? I’ve only known her for a couple of hours at best.”

“Which means, you actually catch on to this House stuff pretty quick.” The praise caught her attention and Mina turned to face Sasha.

“You think so? I thought you had been referring to Eren when you had said it earlier.”

“He seems kind of like a crybaby to me,” Ymir interjected, and that earned her a small rap on her shoulder from Sasha.

“You really are ruthless, y’know.” Sasha sighed then. “But he definitely didn’t seem like he was having a good time with the lesson. He stopped the moment he fell behind.”

“Well, he is ‘Yaeger Bombastic',” came Mina’s retort, and Sasha shrugged in response.

“Yeah, but this isn’t Breaking. It doesn’t have to be all competition here, especially when it’s House, and especially when you’re learning.” Mina pursed her lips together. The first time they had gone to the XL, Ymir had said the same thing.

“He has his reasons.” That voice had been stern, a little uncompromising even, and the three of them turned their attention to Armin. He took a slow breath, and exhaled. “He has his reasons, and…I can’t say I agree with how hard he is on himself, he’s doing what he can with what he knows.” Mina watched the conviction in his eyes as they shifted to each of them, noting that his eyes settled onto her for only a few seconds longer, but it spoke volumes to her.

_I know you understand, if even just a little…_

“Hm, well,” They both turned to Sasha. “I really hope he figures it out. I’d hate to see him stay so competitive.” She paused. “Oh, and before I forget, Mina, there’s a show coming up at the XL in Trost. I overheard you talking--well, kind of yelling at Eren about it and…since you’ve been, I figured you might want to go again? It’s a good chance to practice some of the stuff you learned since last time, right?”

“I-I guess? This is…kind of sudden…The only person I know that played there is Hoo-Dini and Zacharias...”

“I don’t think Hoo-Dini will be there, but I’ve heard they’re gonna get another good talent, and Zacharias is also gonna’ be there too with his label, so it can’t hurt right?” Mina huffed at Ymir’s response.

“Ymir, I’m still pretty new to all of this. I…kind of don’t have any idea who you’re talking about…”

“Do your research,” was her response, and one that Mina had quickly come to expect, and when another one of Sasha’s light rap against Ymir’s shoulder came up, Mina had expected that too.

“Don’t mind her, Mina.” Sasha offered her a smile, with the same warmth from earlier. “I still think this is a good chance for you to work on whatever you’ve learned so far here…” Sasha’s eyes went past her, to Armin before they came back. “But…I think learning a little more about the music and culture can help too. Maybe I’ll see you this weekend. But for right now, I think I’ll go ahead and help out this ‘Armin’ with his interview. He came out pretty far.” Her smile ebbed a little, and she shrugged casually. But, don’t be a stranger, and come by anytime!”

* * *

Two days had passed since Dauper, and Mina had only allowed herself to sit still for one of those days, taking to light warm-ups and drills at home. She made a mental note of what she knew, subtly working through them, practicing slowly and carefully. It had been two days since Dauper, and about three days since she had last seen Mylius in person.

Mina grabbed her phone from her dresser, sliding it open to the main screen, and then into her Coordinate account, eyes and habit guiding her into her last few messages with Mylius:

😍 _Mylius 😍: “Ymir asked you to come out to DAUPER? Isn’t that like a solid 30 minute rail ride?”_

_Mina: “Yeah, but maybe faster depending on how many people use it, and it is Dauper, so…maybe a lot of people might ignore it?”_

_😍Mylius😍: “Maybe. How long is the lesson supposed to be?”_

_Mina: “Well, you’ve met Ymir before at this point and I don’t think she’d be too great a teacher. I can’t see it being longer than an hour.”_

_😍Mylius😍: “So, you could be back pretty soon. Like, no later than 5, probably.”_

_Mina: “Yep!😁”_

_😍 Mylius😍: “Noted. 😏 I’ll keep that in mind.”_

_Mina: “Plans for something?”_

_😍Mylius😍: “Only for us, but it’ll be a surprise. Just let me know, okay?”_

_Mina: “Lol okay, you got it😘”_

_Status: Seen Tues 3:46pm_

It was unintended, but that had, at the end of that day turned out to be a lie, and rather than over the _Coordinate_ , Mina had actually called him to explain; he had been understanding, and rescheduled, which lead to her standing there, post warm-up and thinking about what Mylius’s plans were, or if he even remembered them. Mina smiled to herself.

Of course he did. This was Mylius she was talking about. Whatever it was, Mina was sure she would enjoy it.

It wasn’t until she was next to Mylius, walking with him hand-in-hand that she realized that she might have been spending more time away from home than she thought. Karanese was comparable to Trost in size, but Mina found that it was still missing something.

“I know that face.” Mina leaned into Mylius, just slightly. “No worries. I feel it too.”

“You don’t think we’ve been spending too much time away, do you?” Mylius paused, turning to face her.

“I wouldn’t say so. Karanese has always been a little on the traditional side. There’s a reason why we never really fit in all that well here.” Mina frowned inwardly at that, and found herself, for a sharp moment, remembering Sasha and Dauper. Mylius gave a her a slight squeeze. “Hey, you know I didn’t mean anything by that.”

“Yeah, but it just feels different. A little dead, actually.”

“That Erwin really knows how to run a place, I guess. But, we’ve also known this place our whole lives, remember? And I bet we haven’t even seen all of it. You grew up more on the rural side of town, and I was the anti-social shut-in.” Mina laughed.

“Even though your brother drove you out to come hang out on the ranch?”

“Hey, it’s true!”

“Oh really,” Mina replied with smirk. “So… is this place you have planned is gonna’ be as good as you say?” Mylius returned her expression, and pointed behind him.

“Well, I think I’ll let you decide, because we’re here.”

Mina remembered that she had heard about _Founder's Tea_ , but had completely forgotten that its grand opening was today. What was more, they had taken to celebrating their grand opening with a open mic and free round of tea.

Mylius knew her frighteningly well, and Mina found that she couldn’t help but smile at the thought. She sat nestled next to him, watching others try their hand at their craft, and taking sips of a very smooth white tea. She kept her focus about the microphone, always curious who would make an appearance next.

She had to have been very focused on that same microphone, as she then realized that the next performer, with his light hair and his stone-colored eyes, was Mylius, and those same eyes hung on her, endearingly, and, if she wasn’t mistaking, subtly salacious too.

Mina averted her eyes to his feet and fire crept into her face. This had to be a joke, and something he might have picked up from Nic.

“So, this is a first for me. Well, publicly, anyway.” Mina kept her eyes forward. “I’ve had some inspiration the past few days and thought I would share.” He had to have moved his gaze out to others at this point. It would be strange if he were to read or perform, or whatever poets did and still be entirely focused on her.

So, she decided to lift her eyes slowly, moving from shoes to denim. This was fine, right? By the time she actually looked at him, he probably would have taken his attention elsewhere, right?

_He’s clearly talking around the room. He’s presenting like he always does…_

She went from denim to his dark shirt, to his jacket hanging slightly unzipped over it. Her face was burning by the time she drew up the courage to look at him directly, coming to realize that maybe she had taken her sweet time as she found herself staring and holding his gaze.

She caught his subtle smirk at the corners of his mouth.

_Mylius…!_

“But, I was too inspired not to share so, here goes…”

* * *

“You jerk!”

“You have to admit it was pretty good though, right?”

“You didn’t have to put me out there like that, you know!”

“I caught some of the other women staring a little annoyed at their dates. I guess they’re a little comfortable?”

“But publicly, Mylius?”

“I never once mentioned you by name. It was all allusion. You only feel that way because you knew it was about you. I can handle all the banter you throw at me.” He chuckled and pulled her close; Mina obliged, leaning into him with a deep sigh as they walked.

“It was fun though. I didn’t know Founder’s would be opening so soon…or, that they would do something like that.”

“Y’know,” Mylius began. “I wouldn’t mind doing this more often.” Mina caught the solemn edge in his tone.

“Founder’s?”

“Just… getting back to date night in general. Between dancing, work and side-projects, I feel like I haven’t had the chance to really just…sit with you.” He had a point, Mina realized.

Eren had catapulted rogue crew into a limelight of sorts, which, while most of the traffic was for Eren, they all got their fair share of admirers. It could be a lot when she attempted to balanced that new found popularity, work and a relationship with Mylius.

“It’s…do-able,” she heard herself squeak, and that earned her a small chuckle from Mylius.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve just thought on it too much.” He stopped to turn to her. “Hey, while we’re at it, why don’t we really spend some time together, and do what we do best?”

* * *

It was 8:00 pm and a little late by Mina’s standards, but they had made their way to a studio space that Mylius had rented out for few hours (How had he done that?). Admittedly, when Mylius had mentioned “doing what they do best”, she had nearly blurted something otherwise, and hadn’t expected dance to be what he was immediately referring to. But she still had no problems enjoying his space. They danced wildly and together, falling into each other’s arms when they stumbled and laughing with the other. At one particular moment, Mylius had attempted (poorly) to lead Mina in a partner dance, which ended miserably with her sprawled over him, both almost in tears from sheer laughter.

“So…we’re no good at formal partner dances so…how about something else?” The same thought from earlier crossed her mind, and from the grin that Mylius gave her also must have meant it crossed her face as well. “Get your mind out of the gutter,” He said with a laugh. “I meant to dance!”

“Oh,” Mina pinked. “Right. Breaking!”

* * *

They had moved from the rented studio, opting to clear up a little space in Mylius’s apartment for a makeshift Breaking space. Lucky for them, Mylius’s roommate was gone for the next couple of days.

When she thought back on their attempt neither of them had known what they had been doing. Formal partner dances were interesting but something Mina never had a chance to get into.

The contrast with Breaking was that it seemed to fit like an old shoe for her. It was familiar and loose. She was comfortable in her footwork, Toprock and Down, and she matched Mylius as the music played with them and through them. She even could work quite a few power moves but…

That was all she seemed to do.

Mylius moved in compliment with her, sometimes their bodies coming close in distance but…it felt strangely off.

It wasn’t like what she had seen between Christa and Ymir, and for some reason, there was a current missing, something that Mina never quite noticed before. They seemed to be dancing around each other, in their own little spaces, but not exactly _with_ each other.

Mylius came off of one of his leg sweeps, and caught her ankle, and she went down with a cry.

“Ah, Mina!” And then he went to her side. “Hey, I didn’t mean that. That was entirely by accident.”

“I know, I know.” Mina felt herself frowning then. The night had gone _immaculate_. She had never expected things to take this kind of turn, and through her first dance she had felt at home with. “I think I should have caught what you were doing.” Her words were empty.

“It has been a little while, hasn’t it? But, I know you also know what you’re doing too. If Eren wasn’t around, you’d be the best in Rogue Crew.”

“I do know what I’m doing but..”

“Don’t tell me you’re having doubts like Yaeger now.” Mina turned to him incredulous, a sharp and subtle shadow of anger passing over her face.

“Absolutely _**not**_.”

“Whoa, hey, Mina, okay. It was just...A question.” And then, she drew herself back in with a deep breath.

“Sorry, it’s just that…Breaking doesn’t quite feel the same.” Now, it was Mylius’s face warped in surprise.

“’Doesn’t feel the same’? Like, with me…?”

“No, no.. It’s not that it’s that…”

 _It’s that_ …

 _It’s that_ …

“It’s what?” He was slightly irritable now, and oddly, strangely, Mina thought of Eren and his comment in Dauper.

Mylius didn’t _really_ think anything was going on between her and Eren, did he?

“Mina, it’s just _what_?”

“It’s like dancing in a box!” It was a sharp flippant retort. “We know this dance, Mills, and…I don’t know, I wish you could have seen what I saw at the XL last month. It was incredible. I didn’t notice it until Ymir said something about it but there’s always this edge to Breaking in the community. And…I don’t know, maybe I’m just tired of it?”

“Well, if I’m honest, The XL was a little wild the last time we went. And, I’ve noticed you started going more often too.”

“Mylius, that was the _only_ time you went. It’s way different than what you think.” Mylius raised his hands in surrender.

“Hey, it’s only a suggestion. It just seems like to me the XL isn’t the best place to go if you want to keep up with your skills in Breaking. Maybe that's why you feel like this?”

Mina felt her ears run hot and her jaw clench, but all she did was stare at him, as equally shocked as she had been moments before. She was suddenly moving around Mylius’s apartment, gathering up her belongings, slinging on her jacket all in one, fluid set of motion and only at that moment did Mylius seem to register the gravity of what he said.

“Mina, wait. That didn’t come out right. I—”

“I’ll see you later, Mylius.” She went to leave, when she felt Mylius’s hand brush against hers before he gingerly clasped hers hand in his, and she paused for a second. She turned to him, eyes sharp.

“Mina, I didn’t say that right. What I meant was—"

She snatched her hand away.

“I _said_ , I’ll see you later, Mylius.” And then she slammed the door, _hard_.

* * *

It was supposed to be a good night. It was supposed to be date night, and yet, Mina found herself wrapped in her bedsheets alone. Everything had started off fantastic, and Mylius had even wrote a poem for her, and it was actually good.

How did she end up back in her room at home, alone? She looked across her room, watching as Celia sat in her bed upright, fidgeting with her phone.

“You haven’t said anything since you came back from Mill’s place.” Celia’s phone sounded, and she set the phone on her nightstand to the right of her bed, and turned to Mina with full attention. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” came a closed reply.

“You didn’t even look at me when you said that. Really, what’s wrong? It’s date night for the two of you, and I’ve had the unfortunate knowledge of having heard how that usually ends. This is different…” Mina pinked.

“C-Celia!”

“I knew that would get something out of you.” Mina stuck her tongue out, but then sighed.

“It really was just a disagreement…”

“It had to be more than just a disagreement if it stopped you from getting—”

“ _ **Anyway**_ ,” Mina interjected, and with a small laugh. “Everything was fine until we went to practice.” Celia gave her a questionable raise of her brow.

“You guys practice on date night?”

“Well, we tried out actual partner dances, but we bombed of course. It was just a way to have fun, y’know?”

“You mean to tell me it was your actual dance that caused the argument? Breaking?” Celia, who had been relatively lax on her stomach, moved to sit upright. “You guys got into a fight about that?”

“Disagreement, Celia.” Her sister frowned.

“Mina.” She gave a resigned sigh.

“I think he’s annoyed with the whole house thing.”

“Annoyed? It’s still dancing.”

“Yeah but…I told him that it feels different than Breaking. I feel like I don’t have to think when I dance house. I can just dance…” Mina could feel Celia staring.

“I mean, but you guys always dance together. You’ve done full-on freestyles together.”

“Well, yeah, but…I noticed it tonight… Even when we danced together, it still didn’t feel we were dancing together. It felt like all we did was take up the same space, and moved in our same little boxes…”

“And you told him that?” Mina shrank a little further into her sheets.

“Mhm. That wasn’t wrong of me was it?” Mina then wriggled slightly to catch a glimpse of Celia, who had what she could only describe as a smirk caught in a mid-ground of awe, pride, and outright shock. Celia laughed.

“Not at all. But…I can’t say that really surprises me.” Mina poked her head out from out her sheets.

“It…doesn’t?” Celia shook her head, and then her voice turned serious.

“No, but…if you told him all this, then…what if he’s jealous?” Mina sat up then.

“Jealous? Of who?”

“Well, for starters…” Celia’s voice trailed and Mina knew immediately who Celia’s first guess.

It was Eren, and suddenly, Mylius’s comment from earlier made all the more sense.

“Mina." She snapped to attention. 

“He doesn’t have to be jealous of Eren though. We’ve been together for at least two and a half years now…”

“But he is. And, I think it’s been this way for a while. I’ve noticed that he’s gotten a lot more strange after OmniFest.” Mina flinched at the comment, and Celia’s eyes widened a slight bit in understanding. “Don’t tell me you knew about this!”

“I…didn’t think it’d be that big of a deal…!” Celia was gawking now.

“You mean you’ve been on this rollercoaster for two years!?”

“Celia, it’s not like that!” Celia paused; she waited for an excuse with baited breath, which was enough for Mina to exhale and calm herself down. “I thought that maybe he would see differently from actions. And...We’ve been okay. It’s only been recently with this house thing that it seems like it’s gotten worse.” Mina lifted her eyes to see Celia’s reaction, who only returned her usual and subtle, gaze of empathy. “I didn’t think that he might have actually been thinking that…”

“But Mina, you have to think, you’ve also been spending a lot of time with Eren too, haven’t you? You’ve been to the XL a few times now, and you two went all the way out to Dauper, just the two of you.”

Celia did have a point. Again, Mina buried herself under her sheets. Celia made a really good point . But the possibility remained that maybe Mylius didn’t quite understand what house was quickly becoming to her. Mina thought to turn the conversation on its head and “win” against Celia, but ultimately decided against it.

She reached out for her phone to check the time

_Thursday, 10:24pm_

Mina made note also, of the text message notification at the top of the screen, holding an unread text from Mylius Zeramuski.

* * *

Friday mornings were always wildly busy, and luckily for Mina, she normally worked with Hannah, who was usually always front of house. The two of them worked well together, and could switch in a moment’s notice.

Today was not the day for that, and Hannah took to front of house expertly like she always did, and Mina, more apt to churning out any drink thrown at her, remained deft at work.

Morning rush carried on a little late, with the both of them unable to pause for the slightest break until well into morning, and Mina breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the lobby empty save one or two people.

Mina flicked a glance to the clock above the counter. It was 10:00am, and lunch would be starting soon. It was never really a problem, save for when Franz would make his normal round to visit Hannah, where Mina would find her self at the counter alone, hoping that lunch never became a rush.

She had set about restocking the counter as Hannah made her way out to the dining tables. Mina heard someone enter just as her back was turned to wipe down her equipment.

“Welcome to _The Peering Pot_ , where we brew your coffee to peer-fection.” God, she hated that pun. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

“Oh, yeah sure. I think I’ll grab a mocha and three shots of espresso when you’re ready.” She knew that voice, and with a glance over her shoulder, she caught wind of the music journalist, Armin Arlert.

* * *

“You’re a barista?” was the first thing he had said to her.

“You drink coffee?” happened to be her retort to that. It became apparent that neither of them had even expected to run into the other, and it also had become apparent that Armin ran on caffeine, and that he was actually a bit of a coffeehouse enthusiast.

“This..”

“Is the best you’ve had in your life?” Armin shrugged sheepishly.

“I was going to say pretty okay, but that works too.” Mina furrowed her brow at that.

“You know, a lot of Karanese says I’m a natural with the equipment,” she pointed to the counter. “Some might even say master. Where could you have possibly had better coffee?”

“Have you been to Founder’s?” Mina stared, dumbstruck.

“They just opened last night. Maybe you should take it a little easy on the caffeine.”

“Huh? I haven’t had any of their coffee, but it definitely smells nice in there.” He caught wind of Mina’s playful glare. “I actually had some of their tea, if you really want to know.”

She beamed.

“What kind of tea did you have?”

“Black is my favorite.”

“I think you _really_ might want to take it easy on the caffeine.” He tittered at that amusedly.

“Then, I’ll take a guess at you then…” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a few seconds.

“I’m going to guess… white tea? That also has caffeine in it too, you know...” Mina pursed her lips, and he seemed to see through her immediately. He laughed at that, and his laughter was contagious.

Armin was sharp, idealistic and despite his partiality to caffeine, easy-going, and easy to talk to. They had gone from talks about favorite teas and coffee, all the way to a book that Armin was personally working on as a side project. What was supposed to be a quick conversation stretched out to become Mina’s lunch break.

“I actually plan to have a series covering the history of a lot of genres of music and right now, the most important one seems to be this House craze thanks to Erwin. Whatever he's doing is making an absolute wave across all of Rose.” He had been looking down when she had went silent at the topic, and that caught his attention. “I’ll actually need some good sources, so, when you really pick up the dance, feel free to let me know.” Her breath caught in her throat. They hadn’t known each other for very long, but Armin’s seeming confidence in her abilities had an effect all the same. “But, I think I should get ready to go. I think I actually took up your lunch break. Let’s chat again soon!” There was a genuine curve of his lips, a quick wave, and then he was out the door.

The next few hours went by smoothly, and Mina was almost surprised to see her co-worker Thomas walk through the doors to relieve her. It had really only felt like moments really. Hannah had noted on her lunch break with Armin, taking to teasing her a little about it. When Thomas also decided to chime in, Mina was all too relieved when the clock struck two.

But it had felt like there was a strange, guiding hand that led her. Mina had gotten home, moved past her parents with a quick wave and went directly to her room. Celia usually covered the mid-shift in Trost, which meant she had the room herself for the next six hours.

She stood a little off center in her room, observing herself in the body mirror hanging behind her door, and still in uniform. She sniggered under her breath and stripped down, tossing her uniform in a corner at the foot of her bed, and took to digging through her closet intently.

She thought of Armin, and how sharp he was, his lax attitude and laugh were contagious, and it reminded Mina so much of _Mylius_.

Mylius was sharp too, and he was—had—been laid back, before OmniFest two years ago, like her sister had pointed out, and Mylius was also warm-hearted and attentive. Well, he could be and maybe, just _maybe_ after talking to Celia last night, it wouldn’t be the worst to give Mylius a chance to really explain himself , and a chance for herself to really listen. Her fingers flashed through her phone.

_“Hey Mills, I’m on my way.”_

* * *

Mina could tell he had been waiting for her, and probably was waiting for her text too. She sat in a recliner next to the couch he was on, staring admittedly slightly awkward. Why did she feel any kind of unease?

“You, uh, look nice…” It was the first thing he had actually said. It had only been roughly 10 minutes and most of it was spent in a rough silence.

“Yeah…thanks… but it’s just casual…” It was a shaky response and he struggled a bit to make his, his eyes hanging on her, but she eventually coaxed him into meeting her halfway, with last night still fresh in both of their minds. It had been a strange reconciliation of a sort.

Mylius was authentically insecure like Celia had mentioned and that, ironically reminded her of Eren.

Armin flared up in her mind as well, reminded of him more than likely because his similarities to Mylius had brought her there on the opposite end of the couch from him. Mina began to feel a familiar thump in her head, which was always the hallmark of her thinking too hard, for too long.

She had an idea.

Mina caught a pause in Mylius, and she pounced, kissing him with a sultry and fluid motion that she was certain that would light something in him.

He responded, just like she knew he would when she took a few smalls steps back, her fingers trailing lightly over his chest. His hand caught hers and he pulled her back in; his smirk was a playful one, and familiarly inquisitive and melting.

“I thought you came here to talk.”

“Someone’s feeling confident again.”

“More like curious.” His face dipped in smoothly coming to a hovered inches from hers. “I want to know what you have to say.”

He had taken the bait deliciously and Mina’s deft response was perfect, at least to her.

“Here, let me show you.”

* * *

Mina couldn’t quite understand where Mylius’s insecurity had come from, even with Celia blatantly spelling it out. Mylius knew her body just as much as she knew his. He was slow, and attentive, and the way he emulated her same light touches from only moments earlier sent cold fire down her spine.

He seemed to know just when to kiss her, and where, and how to get her to rub her thighs together in anticipation, especially when he trailed up her neck, to her ear. She had almost dug her nails into his shoulders in anticipation at his slow, breathy chuckle in her ear, an odd mix of sensuality and ticklishness.

Mina found her back against his chest, and his hands hugging at her waist and they moved up her sides agonizingly slow. There was another light kiss at her neck as he went, and then a light nibble and suckle.

 _Oh_.

She felt that particular want poke at her insides. Mylius always got a kick out of revving her up, and always prided himself on that, and Mina, almost always, would nearly jump at him before he really got started, but this time, he seemed particularly focused, and Mina was every bit prepared to fall into him.

Her phone suddenly rang.

_Ugh…_

Mina gave it a quick look, then attempted to ignore it, and it went silent for a few seconds before it starting again.

The second time around, Mina could feel Mylius falling flat and his attention followed hers, to her phone.

“You can answer that if you want. “ Mina shook her head, glancing over it, moving her phone to silent before setting it aside, this time out of her reach, but Mylius insisted. “It could be important.”

“It’s…definitely not important.”

“Huh, really? Who was it anyway?” There was an immediate stumble on Mina’s part.

“Just…some unfamiliar number.” Mina moved in, placing her arms around Mylius’s neck and tried her hardest to muster up the same feeling from seconds ago. “We shouldn’t let that bother us, right?”

Mylius frowned.

“That reaction doesn’t seem like an ‘unfamiliar number’ to me.” He slipped out from under her arms. “Who was it?” Mina’s hands went to her hips, and his gaze sharpened. “It was Eren, wasn’t it?”

Admission flooded her face, for a split moment, and lying seemed like a good idea right at that moment.

“Mina,” Mylius’s voice matched his expression, and she thought better of it then. “Who was it?”

She had had everything laid out.

This was supposed to be her moment where Mylius would know for certain how she felt.

But here they were again, on the cusp of something an entire world away from what she had in mind. She needed to choose wisely; Mina bristled.

“Damn it, Mylius. You know what? You’re right. It was Eren **_fucking_** Yaeger.”

* * *

Saturday night had finally arrived, and Mina stood outside the XL. It was quickly becoming familiar. It had started off a rather bland building, which may have been Erwin’s initial reason for selecting the building.

But since its opening tenure, Mina noted the beige outside had given way to a mish-mash of graffiti and artwork, taking up space on one side of the door. There was an actual mural of Zacharias spinning on the opposite side of the door.

Where his tables were supposed to be instead read “ _XL-TT_ ”.

The place really seemed to be attracting everyone’s attention. She could hear the music reverb from the inside. Sasha and Ymir were probably already inside. Mina took a minute to compose herself, and with a breath, ushered herself in.

* * *

The reverberation moved from her ears to her chest once she stepped in, and while she was able to feel out the groove, there was still nothing that made her want to move.

“Oi, you made it!” Sasha was the first to notice her, and the only one who seemed to be remotely affectionate, greeting Mina with a bright smile and a hug that pulled the breath from Mina’s body. Ymir had hung back, only offering a single wave and a smirk; Christa was there too and waved genuinely in her direction. Well, that made two people excited.

“What’s the problem?”

“The problem?”

“Wow, is the entire Rogue Crew bad at lying?” Christa shook her head, already exasperated, and pulled Ymir off to the side.

“Y’know,” Mina turned back to Sasha. “You don’t really seem all here. We all noticed it, but Ymir was the only one who said anything.” Mina furrowed her brow. “She’s crass but right. What happened?”

_My boyfriend happened._

_His insecurities happened_.

_We got into a fight because **Eren** happened. _

“Nothing.” Mina had said that with a frown.

“Hm…You’re not getting all competitive like Eren, are you?”

_I’m going to scream._

Mina was sure how many times she thought she was going to hear his name. Couldn’t she do even one thing without hearing his name?

Sasha took hold of her hand, tugging her toward the dance floor, “The Space”.

“Well...come on. Whatever’s on your mind, we can work through it right out here!”

* * *

Mina hadn’t danced very much. She felt stiff, heavy and strangely, self-conscious. Instead, she planted herself on one of the stools at the bar.

She watched the crowd, moving in chaotic synchronicity. Hoo-Dini would have smoothed things over for sure. Looking a little more closely, Mina’s eyes fell to at first Christa, then to Ymir and then, Sasha, and each seemed to melt into the greater body of dance , without ever once losing themselves or each other. A cool tingle worked its way through her spine.

_I should be out there…_

She felt a body fill the stool next to her.

“You’re not going to dance this time?” The words were a little sullen, but for the most part flat; Mina didn’t even look his way.

“I’m surprised you came, Eren.”

“I was invited too.” It was a murmur. “But I hadn’t expected you to be sitting on the side. This is something you would chew me out for.”

“I’m not sitting here for the reason you might think.”

“Oh…?” Mina pursed her lips; she hadn’t expected Eren, or any snootiness to be there at all.

“I’m not afraid to dance, Eren.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Why don’t _you_?”

“They’re playing…house…”

She turned to him with a pointed glare.

“And you were there to practice with me in Dauper.” She became aware of the tightness in her voice, chest and in her throat. Mina exhaled, and then muttered under her breath.

“You think I’m insecure.”

“Not just you. Mylius too.” And then, both her defense and shoulders slumped. “Why are boys so insecure?” They sat in silence for a few seconds then.

“So, that text I sent you…Did he see it?”

“No.”

“So…when I called twice, you weren’t even going to answer…?”

“No.” Another pause; he was trekking carefully.

“I told him it was you.” She could feel him staring at her in disbelief.

“And…he got jealous.” Mina nodded once, attention still directed on Sasha and the others. Another circle had formed, a regular occurrence; she could see Christa alone in its center. Mina snickered.

“And…we got into an argument…and then…I left...” She turned to look at him for the first time since they had sat down; he was fully attentive and open.

“I must've ruined something for you two but…” he paused. “I really needed someone to talk to, and you and Armin are the only people I can trust to listen.” That caught her attention; this sounded important.

“Then…what was it…?”

He turned away toward The Space.

He mumbled.

“ _More_ importantly…you would let him stop you?” She stared at him harder; he gave her nothing. “You would let a disagreement stop you from you?” Mina bit back her response. “If a single argument with Mylius can make you forget how to move then…maybe you were never really into this house thing at all.” Again, Mina had nearly acted on impulse, but caught another small upturn of his lips. “You remember last month, don’t you?”

“Yeah…” Mina brought her attention back to the cypher, and along with it, was brought back into rhythm. The tips of her fingers were thrumming with that familiar pulse now.

The Space had come together now, and all the bodies she saw had began to sway and feed from one another.

She could see the dancing of the nameless.

She saw Ymir and Christa, each dancing in the full breath of themselves and each other. Christa had gotten better from when Mina had last seen her really let loose last month.

Most notably, she saw Sasha, who had entered both into The Space and a space of her own.

The woman sank into the [music](https://youtu.be/BEE8AZIpnXg), and into groove and what was most impressive to Mina was that Sasha kept her eyes closed near the entire time, and still remained contained, yet, connected.

Like Ymir and Christa.

Mina could feel the subtle thrumming on her body, and it wasn’t until Eren spoke again that she remembered he was there.

“You should get out there.” She smiled bashfully.

“Well, only if the Yaeger Bomb comes with me.” His hesitation was immediate, and then gone the next moment.

“I think I’ll watch. I left practice a little early a couple of days ago. I’ll be sure to take notes.” Mina levelled Eren with an appreciative glance as a shudder of movement trickled through her body; she turned on her heels and went out to join Sasha, just as she heard the music truly come back to her.

* * *

Mina had forgotten about Mylius rather quickly, and had actually forgotten about many things. Her focus was on the then and there, and while she had started off rather solitary, others quickly came to join her.

She couldn’t help but beam at the atmosphere. So many had excitedly showered praise on what she saw as amateur movement, but she welcomed it all the same.

This, Mina thought, was so much different from Breaking.

It was something that a part of her feared Mylius would never understand. Each and every single body that came into The Space, her space, became a circuit, a conduit of sorts, and Mina _loved_ it.

She had felt intangibly, so many things, so many beings that she thought for a fleeting second that she would be moved to tears.

She nearly was when Christa, Ymir and Sasha all came to her, each of them moving to mirror, feel and dance with her. They each eventually went to their own corners and without her realizing, Mina had come and gone through the center of the cypher, being carried by the pulse.

The pulse disappeared suddenly and was replaced by [noise](https://youtu.be/Jlc1p_fz5S4) that scratched the inside of her ears. It was entirely alien and the scratching had taken both her focus and the soul of her dance; she needed to sit down.

She had made her way back over toward the bar, and next to Eren. Her eyes also picked out the familiar forms of Christs and Ymir, also off to the side to catch their breath; Sasha was still out there, switching up her style still, falling into the same music that Mina found abrasive.

“All done?”

“I wouldn’t say done.” Mina heaved slightly, and her shirt clung to her skin; he could probably smell her. He laughed under his breath.

“Well, you were really good out there…”

“It was the music, not me.”

“That’s my line,” he replied with a soft laugh. “Still, you really _are_ taking to this whole house thing. They don’t have a part dedicated to it at OmniFest, so…maybe you could get it started if you tried.”

“Eren—”

“It’s not about winning, I know. But…I can’t help but wonder how you would do. You and the rest of Rogue are always in my shadow.” He was smiling a little, “You could have your own crew if you wanted to.” She smiled back, and ignored his comment.

“I think I would have to learn to dance to something I have a hard time feeling. Like this mess that’s playing right now.”

“You mean you’re not impressed with miss Brìtva?”

“You mean—”

“I figured you had been too lost in the music, but Brìtva switched to the decks, and…I have to say, I can see how you might...recoil. “

Eren was right, and Mina could only consider herself disappointed. While she, Ymir, or Christa hadn’t heard much of Brìtva, Sasha seemed to vouch for her; Mina found herself watching the DJ from where she sat, occasionally breaking away to watch others.

The set continued for the next hour, and from time to time, Mina felt that slight tug, that wave that would pass through her, but was never quite enough to pull her back out into The Space. She had sat there with Eren for the remainder of the night, a little frustrated but mostly perplexed at how none of the music seemed to speak to her.

When the familiar end-of-the-night incandescence came into place, Mina was quick to search out Sasha, and had found her, with both Ymir and Christa and someone she wasn’t quite familiar with. Sasha called her over with a wave of the hand.

“Oi, Mina! How’d you like it?” Mina pressed her lips into a thin line.

“She didn’t care for it,” giggled Christa. “You can tell whenever she does that lip thing.” Ymir laughed at that, and Sasha only scratched her head in confusion.

“You didn’t think it was at least danceable? I noticed you went to sit down after Nanaba switched over.” The impulse to lie hung in the back of her mind; Mina sighed and simply shook her head.

“I don’t know. It felt…” From the side of her vision, Mina could see that unfamiliar face observing her. “…Really guarded to me…”

_Like this girl…_

“Oh, well, I’m sorry you didn’t really enjoy it…I was actually going to ask Nanaba for a track list but ran into Brìtva instead.” It all clicked for Mina then, turning to the other girl entirely. She had been unable to get a full glimpse of her actual appearance from her island seat at the bar.

“This is…them…?”

“Yeah, _I’m_ Brìtva.” She had said that with a glare, and despite her size, Mina felt her body quiver under her eyes. “My style isn’t for everyone, I guess. But it seemed like mostly everyone else enjoyed it.”

“You don’t really seem to be all that enthused to be a DJ. Everyone really kept dancing because of Sasha or Ymir. I saw it.”

“…That’s your opinion.” it was a snippy retort.

“But…you’re a _DJ_. Shouldn’t you want to get people to move, or…something?” Brìtva snickered at that.

“I do, but how you interpret the set is beyond my control.”

“You didn’t even look like you enjoyed doing it!” Mina glared and Brìtva answered with a negligent rise and fall of her shoulders.

“Well, I wasn’t going to pass up the sum Erwin offered. So, no worries. I won’t be coming back this way of I don’t have to.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve made my money, so that’s all that matters.” Ymir chimed in then.

“You think money is worth playing shoddy sets? Play distant all you like but if you don’t want to connect, then why are you doing any of this?”

“Because I’m good enough to be able to make money consistently doing it,” Came the steely answer. “I already told the four of you that I’ve made my money so you don’t have to worry about me ruining your little ‘sanctuary’. So, I’ll need you to stop bothering me so I can wrap up my equipment and get out of here.”

“I think you’re wrong.” Mina’s anchored herself against the DJ, who turned slowly on her direction. “There’s a reason you had to play here that’s more than money. You could make a lot of money somewhere else, couldn’t you?” Brìtva said nothing; it was all the proof Mina needed. “I think you can play sets way better than you let on.”

“Oh? And why do you say that?”

“Just…a feeling.” Mina tempered her edge relaxing just a fraction. “You weren’t feeling anything you put out so…an idea! If you come back to play here with feeling in your sets, then I’ll keep up!”

“And if you can’t?” Mina smirked.

“Then…” She struggled to think of something at first. “…you have a personal assistant working for free for the next three years!”

“You’re that confident, huh?” Mina nodded. Brìtva made a noise of amusement. “Alright, I’ll play.” Brìtva gathered together a pen and paper, scrawling a mass of lines before handing it over. “Here’s my contact info for when you lose. You’ll have to know me by name when you come work for me.” Mina blinked a few times at the paper reading off the number and the name scribbled above it: Annie Leonhardt.

She heard the doors open to the XL and an unyielding Brìtva waiting next to them.

“Now please, get out.”

* * *

Mina made her way out with Sasha and the others. Rolling tepid winds had reminded Mina that she could smell herself and others probably could too, but her expression was excited and glowing as she looked the contact info over again.

_Challenge accepted…!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can someone pleas confirm if Brìtva really means razor in russian? I have no idea of google translate is accurate.


End file.
